1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a media cartridge autoloader, and particularly relates to a media cartridge picker that moves a media cartridge in a media cartridge autoloader serving as a data storage unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical media cartridge autoloader includes a media cartridge picker in the center, a mail slot at the front side, at least one read/write media drive at the rear side, and media cartridge transport magazines at the lateral sides. The media cartridge picker is configured to retrieve a media cartridge and transport it among the mail slot, the media drive, and the media cartridge transport magazines. The media drive includes a media cartridge ejecting mechanism for ejecting the media cartridge.
After the media cartridge ejecting mechanism ejects the media cartridge from the media drive, the media cartridge transport mechanism of the media cartridge autoloader retrieves and transports the ejected media cartridge.
In order to determine whether the operation of the media cartridge transport mechanism can be started, a mechanism for detecting the proper ejection of the media cartridge from the media drive is desired.